Overview

• St Kilda confirmed the 22-year-old has extended through 2027, with multiple outlets reporting the two-year pact totals about $4 million and marks the AFL’s first $2 million-per-season salary.
• Adelaide and Port Adelaide were rebuffed after long-term pitches to lure the South Australian home, as his camp opted for a shorter term to reassess progress and “finish what he started,” his agent said.
• Club powerbrokers Andrew Bassat and Stephen Silvagni held in-person meetings with agent Ben Williams in Queensland and Melbourne before the acceptance was conveyed on Monday.
• The deal is viewed across the industry as a salary benchmark that will influence St Kilda’s cap and list build, with reports of a front-loaded offer to free agent Tom De Koning around $1.7–$1.8 million per year and interest in GWS defender Leek Aleer.
• Ross Lyon called losing Wanganeen-Milera “catastrophic” for the club’s strategy and said the cap is well managed, while teammates Jack Steele and Callum Wilkie said he told them of his decision on Saturday as a separate $30 million Port offer claim was later deleted online.